MD and the Spririt of Giving

You're likely growing weary of the pleas to be generous this time of year, but this message may just be something you won't mind doing. Modern Drunkard has an old story, called 40 Things, with a list of things the cool drunkard will do before moving on. Two of them you might try to cross off your list this holiday season.

10.) Extravagantly overtip a bartender.
The next time a bartender is especially kind or proficient, lay a massive tip on her. I mean, massive. You must be relatively sober or they’ll discount the act as drunken foolishness. Say something smooth like, “You’re the best of your kind,” drop the bomb, and—this is important—walk out of the bar without another word. With this single act of unexpected generosity, you will restore a bartender’s faith in humanity and give your own self-image a healthy boost.

I bet many of you have plans to visit a place or two that serves alcohol this time of year, maybe this is a good time to cross this off the list of things to do.

This next piece has a story to go along with it from our local news personalities.

26.) Give a hobo twenty bucks.
Make him promise he’s going to spend it on hooch. It won’t be a hard sell. Twenty bucks is the price of a crappy shirt to you, to our alley brethren it’s a gift from the gods.

Just before Thanksgiving a Sacramento "morning news" TV personality gave a case of beer to a homeless person, which drew venomous attacks from those who thought it was mean, cruel, demeaning or otherwise tasteless. One such attacker was noted to say something along the lines that it was probably alcohol that led the the person's plight.

As someone who has a bit of experience working with this population, I don't think there's any harm in the generous giving of booze to someone on the street. I mean, we give gifts of beer and wine to those we love, how much more charitable is it to pass on this same gift to someone we don't know? Just a thought. I mean, what else were you going to do with that 20 bucks?

The '40 Things' list is a good, fun read for a dreary Tuesday afternoon. If you choose to pursue a life that sees you happily crossing off everything on the list, I hope you are a good writer because the adventures could prove to be fun reading.